Billy Cottrell's SUV-Arson Conviction Overturned

Update: The Associated Press and other sources, reporting on the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision to overturn Caltech graduate student Billy Cottrell's arson-and-conspiracy conviction and vacate his sentence, say it remains unclear tonight whether Cottrell will be released from federal prison.

The L.A. Timesis reporting that the U.S. Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has issued an opinion, still unpublished, that may void the 2005 conviction of Billy Cottrell, the brilliant Caltech math instructor convicted of vandalism and arson charges in the 2003 attacks against San Gabriel Valley SUV dealerships.

Writer Carol J. Williams says the federal appeals panel, which in February had upheld Cottrell's conviction and subsequent 8.5-year sentence, has now found that "[t]he judges said the trial court's exclusion of expert testimony about Cottrell's affliction with Asperger's syndrome denied him an opportunity to demonstrate that he couldn't have had specific intent in aiding and abetting the destruction." Cottrell has already served two-thirds of his sentence in Arizona.

When this writer interviewed the now-29-year-old Cottrell in a San Bernardino jail prior to his trial, he adamantly maintained his innocence but seemed distracted and prone to look away from his interviewer. Then, he was accused of helping two other individuals damage or incinerate 125 SUVs and Hummers - his alleged confederates fled the country, leaving Cottrell alone to stand trial on conspiracy charges.